Image compression method and image decompression method

ABSTRACT

Provided is an image decompression method of decompressing an image including a first frame and at least one second frame following the first frame, based on the first frame and landmark location information of the at least one second frame, the image decompression method including: obtaining the first frame; setting at least one landmark of the first frame; obtaining the landmark location information of the at least one second frame; and generating the at least one second frame from the first frame, based on the landmark location information of the at least one second frame, wherein the landmark location information of the at least one second frame is location information of the set at least one landmark of the first frame, in the at least one second frame.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2017-0065217 filed on May 26, 2017, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

One or more embodiments relate to image compression and decompressionmethods, and more particularly, to a method of compressing an imageincluding a plurality of frames into some frames and landmark locationinformation of remaining frames of the image, or inversely,decompressing the image from the some frames and the landmark locationinformation of the remaining frames of the image.

2. Description of the Related Art

This section provides background information related to the presentdisclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

With the rapid development of information and communication technology,various types of terminals, such as mobile communication terminals andpersonal computers, have been implemented to perform various functions.

For example, a mobile communication terminal is implemented to performnot only a basic voice communication function, but also, recently,various functions, such as a data communication function, aphotographing or filming function using a camera, a music or video filereproducing function, a game playing function, and a broadcast viewingfunction.

Recently, various technologies have been implemented such that imagesare captured and transmitted or received in real-time through suchterminals. However, transmitting or receiving of images not onlyexcessively occupies communication resources, but also requireshigher-speed and/or higher-bandwidth communication, and thus may notoperate properly in a lesser communication environment.

SUMMARY

This section provides a general summary of the inventive concepts, andis not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all features ofthe inventive concepts.

One or more embodiments include methods of more efficiently compressingand decompressing an image.

Also, one or more embodiments include a method of compressing an imageincluding a plurality of frames into some frames and landmark locationinformation of remaining frames of the image.

Also, one or more embodiments include a method of decompressing an imageincluding a plurality of frames, based on some frames and landmarklocation information of remaining frames of the image. In particular,one or more embodiments include a method of decompressing an image bycombining two images with reference to a template frame.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments.

According to one or more embodiments, an image decompression method ofdecompressing an image including a first frame and at least one secondframe following the first frame, based on the first frame and landmarklocation information of the at least one second frame, the imagedecompression method including: obtaining the first frame; setting atleast one landmark of the first frame; obtaining the landmark locationinformation of the at least one second frame; and generating the atleast one second frame from the first frame, based on the landmarklocation information of the at least one second frame, wherein thelandmark location information of the at least one second frame islocation information of the set at least one landmark of the firstframe, in the at least one second frame.

The obtaining of the landmark location information may include:determining whether an event has occurred, based on the landmarklocation information of the at least one second frame and a certain timeperiod, wherein the determining may include determining that the eventhas occurred when a frame following the at least one second frame is anew first frame or when the certain time period has passed from a pointof time when the first frame is obtained.

The obtaining of the first frame may include repeatedly obtaining thefirst frame that is updated whenever an event occurs, the setting of theat least one landmark may include setting at least one landmark of theupdated first frame, and the generating of the at least one second framemay include generating the at least one second frame from the updatedfirst frame.

The image decompression method may further include, before the obtainingof the first frame, setting at least one landmark of at least onetemplate frame, wherein the generating of the at least one second framemay include generating the at least one second frame from the at leastone template frame, based on at least one of the first frame and thelandmark location information of the at least one second frame.

The setting of the at least one landmark of the at least one templateframe may include setting the at least one landmark of the at least onetemplate frame, based on a user input with respect to the at least onetemplate frame.

The generating of the at least one second frame may further includegenerating the at least one second frame by replacing at least a partialregion of the at least one template frame by at least a partial regionof the first frame.

The generating of the at least one second frame may include generatingthe at least one second frame by changing a location of the at least onelandmark of the first frame, based on the landmark location informationof the at least one second frame.

The at least one landmark may be set on at least one feature point of ahuman face included in the first frame.

The image including the first frame and the at least one second framemay be transmitted from a caller terminal to a callee terminal, theobtaining of the first frame may include obtaining the first frame fromthe callee terminal, the setting of the at least one landmark mayinclude setting the at least one landmark on at least one feature pointof an interlocutor's face included in the first frame, the obtaining ofthe landmark location information may include obtaining the landmarklocation information of the at least one second frame from the calleeterminal, and the generating of the at least one second frame mayinclude generating the at least one second frame by changing a locationof the at least one feature point of the interlocutor's face from thefirst frame, based on the landmark location information of the at leastone second frame.

According to one or more embodiments, an image compression method ofcompressing an image including a first frame and at least one secondframe following the first frame, based on landmark location information,the image compression method includes: obtaining at least one of thefirst frame and the at least one second frame; setting at least onelandmark of the first frame; identifying a location of the at least onelandmark in the at least one second frame; and processing the firstframe and processing a location of the at least one landmark in the atleast one second frame, sequentially.

The identifying of the location may include determining whether an eventhas occurred, based on landmark location information of the at least onesecond frame and a certain time period, wherein the determining mayinclude determining that the event has occurred when a differencebetween landmark locations of adjacent second frames is equal to orhigher than a certain difference, when the certain time period haspassed from a point of time when the first frame is obtained, or when atransmission request of the first frame is received from an externalapparatus.

The obtaining may include repeatedly obtaining the first frame that isupdated whenever an event occurs, the setting of the at least onelandmark may include setting the at least one landmark of the updatedfirst frame, the identifying of the location may include identifying thelocation of the at least one landmark of the updated first frame in theat least one second frame, and the processing may include processing theupdated first frame, and processing the location of the at least onelandmark in the at least one second frame following the updated firstframe, sequentially,

The processing may include obtaining a user input of selecting atemplate frame to which the first frame and the location of the at leastone landmark are to be applied.

The image including the first frame and the at least one second framemay be transmitted from a caller terminal to a callee terminal, theobtaining may include obtaining the first frame and the at least onesecond frame from an image obtainer of the caller terminal, and theprocessing may include sequentially transmitting, to the calleeterminal, a location of the at least one landmark in the first frame andthe location of the at least one landmark in the at least one secondframe.

The image including the first frame and the at least one second framemay be stored in a caller terminal, the obtaining may include obtainingthe first frame and the at least one second frame from an image obtainerof the caller terminal, and the processing may include sequentiallystoring, in a storage unit of the caller terminal, a location of the atleast one landmark in the first frame and the location of the at leastone landmark in the at least one second frame.

According to one or more embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium storing a computer program for decompressing an imagecomprising a first frame and at least one second frame following thefirst frame, based on the first frame and landmark location informationof the at least one second frame, the computer program when executed bya computer performing the steps comprising: obtaining a first frame ofan image comprising at least one frame; setting at least one landmark ofthe first frame; obtaining landmark location information of a secondframe of the image; and generating the second frame from the firstframe, based on the landmark location information of the second frame,wherein the landmark location information of the second frame islocation information of the set at least one landmark of the firstframe, in the second frame.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments will be described in more detail with regard to thefigures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughoutthe various figures unless otherwise specified, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an image compressing and decompressing systemaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a configuration of a user terminalaccording to an embodiment;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts of an image compression method ofcompressing an image obtained by a user terminal, according to anembodiment;

FIGS. 5 through 8 are flowcharts of an image decompression method ofdecompressing an image obtained by a user terminal, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of compressing an image obtained by a userterminal, according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate examples of decompressing an image obtainedby a user terminal, according to embodiments; and

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate various examples, in which an effect and anobject are added to frames, according to embodiments.

It should be noted that these figures are intended to illustrate thegeneral characteristics of methods and/or structures utilized in certainexample embodiments and to supplement the written description providedbelow. These drawings are not, however, to scale and may not preciselyreflect the precise structural or performance characteristics of anygiven embodiment, and should not be interpreted as defining or limitingthe range of values or properties encompassed by the exampleembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more example embodiments will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. Example embodiments, however,may be embodied in various different forms, and should not be construedas being limited to only the illustrated embodiments. Rather, theillustrated embodiments are provided as examples so that this disclosurewill be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concepts ofthis disclosure to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly,known processes, elements, and techniques, may not be described withrespect to some example embodiments. Unless otherwise noted, likereference characters denote like elements throughout the attacheddrawings and written description, and thus descriptions will not berepeated.

Although the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., may be used hereinto describe various elements, components, regions, layers, and/orsections, these elements, components, regions, layers, and/or sections,should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used todistinguish one element, component, region, layer, or section, fromanother region, layer, or section. Thus, a first element, component,region, layer, or section, discussed below may be termed a secondelement, component, region, layer, or section, without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure.

Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “under,”“above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease ofdescription to describe one element or feature's relationship to anotherelement(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will beunderstood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompassdifferent orientations of the device in use or operation in addition tothe orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device inthe figures is turned over, elements described as “below,” “beneath,” or“under,” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” theother elements or features. Thus, the example terms “below” and “under”may encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may beotherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and thespatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. Inaddition, when an element is referred to as being “between” twoelements, the element may be the only element between the two elements,or one or more other intervening elements may be present.

As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the,” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups, thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items. Expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding alist of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modifythe individual elements of the list. Also, the term “exemplary” isintended to refer to an example or illustration.

When an element is referred to as being “on,” “connected to,” “coupledto,” or “adjacent to,” another element, the element may be directly on,connected to, coupled to, or adjacent to, the other element, or one ormore other intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when anelement is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to,”“directly coupled to,” or “immediately adjacent to,” another element,there are no intervening elements present.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. Terms,such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of the relevant art and/or this disclosure, and should notbe interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expresslyso defined herein.

Example embodiments may be described with reference to acts and symbolicrepresentations of operations (e.g., in the form of flowcharts, flowdiagrams, data flow diagrams, structure diagrams, block diagrams, etc.)that may be implemented in conjunction with units and/or devicesdiscussed in more detail below. Although discussed in a particularlymanner, a function or operation specified in a specific block may beperformed differently from the flow specified in a flowchart, flowdiagram, etc. For example, functions or operations illustrated as beingperformed serially in two consecutive blocks may actually be performedsimultaneously, or in some cases be performed in reverse order.

Units and/or devices according to one or more example embodiments may beimplemented using hardware, software, and/or a combination thereof. Forexample, hardware devices may be implemented using processing circuitrysuch as, but not limited to, a processor, a central processing unit(CPU), a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signalprocessor, a microcomputer, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), asystem-on-chip (SoC), a programmable logic unit, a microprocessor, orany other device capable of responding to and executing instructions ina defined manner.

Software may include a computer program, program code, instructions, orsome combination thereof, for independently or collectively instructingor configuring a hardware device to operate as desired. The computerprogram and/or program code may include program or computer-readableinstructions, software components, software modules, data files, datastructures, and/or the like, capable of being implemented by one or morehardware devices, such as one or more of the hardware devices mentionedabove. Examples of program code include both machine code produced by acompiler and higher level program code that is executed using aninterpreter.

For example, when a hardware device is a computer processing device(e.g., a processor, a CPU, a controller, an ALU, a digital signalprocessor, a microcomputer, a microprocessor, etc.), the computerprocessing device may be configured to carry out program code byperforming arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations, accordingto the program code. Once the program code is loaded into a computerprocessing device, the computer processing device may be programmed toperform the program code, thereby transforming the computer processingdevice into a special purpose computer processing device. In a morespecific example, when the program code is loaded into a processor, theprocessor becomes programmed to perform the program code and operationscorresponding thereto, thereby transforming the processor into a specialpurpose processor.

Software and/or data may be embodied permanently or temporarily in anytype of machine, component, physical or virtual equipment, or computerstorage medium or device, capable of providing instructions or data to,or being interpreted by, a hardware device. The software also may bedistributed over network coupled computer systems so that the softwareis stored and executed in a distributed fashion. In particular, forexample, software and data may be stored by one or more computerreadable recording media, including tangible or non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media discussed herein.

According to one or more example embodiments, computer processingdevices may be described as including various functional units thatperform various operations and/or functions to increase the clarity ofthe description. However, computer processing devices are not intendedto be limited to these functional units. For example, in one or moreexample embodiments, the various operations and/or functions of thefunctional units may be performed by other ones of the functional units.Further, the computer processing devices may perform the operationsand/or functions of the various functional units without sub-dividingthe operations and/or functions of the computer processing units intothese various functional units.

Units and/or devices according to one or more example embodiments mayalso include one or more storage devices. The one or more storagedevices may be tangible or non-transitory computer-readable storagemedia, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), apermanent mass storage device (such as a disk drive), solid state (e.g.,NAND flash) device, and/or any other like data storage mechanism capableof storing and recording data. The one or more storage devices may beconfigured to store computer programs, program code, instructions, orsome combination thereof, for one or more operating systems and/or forimplementing the example embodiments described herein. The computerprograms, program code, instructions, or some combination thereof, mayalso be loaded from a separate computer readable storage medium into theone or more storage devices and/or one or more computer processingdevices using a drive mechanism. Such a separate computer readablestorage medium may include a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive, amemory stick, a Blu-ray/DVD/CD-ROM drive, a memory card, and/or othersimilar computer readable storage media. The computer programs, programcode, instructions, or some combination thereof, may be loaded into theone or more storage devices and/or the one or more computer processingdevices from a remote data storage device via a network interface,rather than via a local computer readable storage medium. Additionally,the computer programs, program code, instructions, or some combinationthereof, may be loaded into the one or more storage devices and/or theone or more processors from a remote computing system that is configuredto transfer and/or distribute the computer programs, program code,instructions, or some combination thereof, over a network. The remotecomputing system may transfer and/or distribute the computer programs,program code, instructions, or some combination thereof, via a wiredinterface, an air interface, and/or any other similar medium.

The one or more hardware devices, the one or more storage devices,and/or the computer programs, program code, instructions, or somecombination thereof, may be specially designed and constructed for thepurposes of the example embodiments, or they may be known devices thatare altered and/or modified for the purposes of example embodiments.

A hardware device, such as a computer processing device, may run anoperating system (OS) and one or more software applications that run onthe OS. The computer processing device also may access, store,manipulate, process, and create data in response to execution of thesoftware. For simplicity, one or more example embodiments may beexemplified as one computer processing device; however, one of ordinaryskill in the art will appreciate that a hardware device may includemultiple processing elements and multiple types of processing elements.For example, a hardware device may include multiple processors or aprocessor and a controller. In addition, other processing configurationsare possible, such as parallel processors.

Although described with reference to specific examples and drawings,modifications, additions and substitutions of example embodiments may bevariously made according to the description by those of ordinary skillin the art. For example, the described techniques may be performed in anorder different to that of the methods described, and/or components suchas the described system, architecture, devices, circuit, and the like,may be connected or combined to be different from the above-describedmethods, or results may be appropriately achieved by other components orequivalents.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an image compressing and decompressing systemaccording to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the image compressing and decompressing systemaccording to an embodiment may include first and second user terminals100 and 200, a server 300, and a communication network 400 connectingthe first and second user terminals 100 and 200 and the server 300.

The first and second user terminals 100 and 200 of the image compressingand decompressing system according to an embodiment may compress animage including a plurality of frames to some frames and landmarklocation information of remaining frames of the image.

The first and second user terminals 100 and 200 of the image compressingand decompressing system according to an embodiment may decompress animage including a plurality of frames, based on some frames and landmarklocation information of remaining frames of the image.

Also, the first and second user terminals 100 and 200 of the imagecompressing and decompressing system according to another embodiment maydecompress an image by combining two images with reference to a templateframe while decompressing the image as described above, and detailsthereof will be described later.

In the present disclosure, an ‘image’ may denote a multimedia objectincluding at least one frame. Here, a frame may denote an individualscene forming an image.

A frame may include a first frame and a second frame. Here, the firstand second frames are named based on tan order of frames, and do notindicate that the first and second frames have different properties orare different types.

An image may include a plurality of image sections. Here, each imagesection may include a first frame, e.g., an initial frame, and at leastone second frame following the first frame. In other words, an entireimage may include a first frame included in each of a plurality ofsections, and at least one second frame included in each of theplurality of sections. Here, an image may be divided into severalsections based on an occurrence of an event, and descriptions aboutevents will be provided later.

Meanwhile, an image may further include sound corresponding to eachframe, in addition to the frame.

In the present disclosure, a ‘landmark’ of a frame may denote a suitabletarget for identifying the frame. For example, when each frame of animage includes a human face, a landmark may denote each part of thehuman face. Here, each part may denote a detailed part, such as ‘astarting part of a left eyebrow’, ‘a right end part of lips’, or thelike.

Landmark setting rules may be pre-set. For example, as described above,when each frame includes a human face, the landmark setting rules may bepre-set such that landmarks are set with respect to, for example, 66points on the human face. Here, before setting a landmark on a frame, alandmark setting target object may be recognized. However, an embodimentis not limited thereto.

The server 300 according to an embodiment may denote a device relayingcommunication between the first and second user terminals 100 and 200.Here, the server 300 may relay transmission and reception of an imagebetween the first and second user terminals 100 and 200.

According to another embodiment, the server 300 may compress ordecompress an image while relaying communication between the first andsecond user terminals 100 and 200. For example, the server 300 mayreceive a non-compressed image from one of the first and second userterminals 100 and 200 in a relatively good network environment, andcompress and transmit an image as described below to transmit the imageto the other one of the first and second user terminals 100 and 200 in arelatively bad network environment. On the other hand, the server 300may receive an image from one of the first and second user terminals 100and 200 in a relatively bad network environment, decompress the image,and transmit the image to the other one of the first and second userterminals 100 and 200 in a relatively good network environment. However,an embodiment is not limited thereto.

The communication network 400 connects the server 300 and the first andsecond user terminals 100 and 200 to each other. For example, thecommunication network 400 provides an access path for the first userterminal 100 to transmit or receive packet data to or from the seconduser terminal 200. Examples of the communication network 400 includewired networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), and an integrated servicedigital network (ISDN), and wireless networks, such as wireless LAN,CDMA, Bluetooth, and a satellite communication network, but are notlimited thereto.

The first and second user terminals 100 and 200 may be any apparatusescapable of transmitting or receiving an image therebetween and/or to orfrom the server 300, and storing an image. Here, the first and seconduser terminals 100 and 200 may be mobile terminals 121 and 201 orpersonal computers 122 and 202. Alternatively, the first and second userterminals 100 and 200 may be various entertainment apparatuses includinga set-top box and a television (TV). Accordingly, the image compressingand decompressing method may be used in various fields of transmittingor receiving an image, or handling an image. For example, the imagecompressing and decompressing method may be used in an imagebroadcasting field, or a field of compressing and storing an image ordecompressing an original image from a compressed image. However, anembodiment is not limited thereto.

The first and second user terminals 100 and 200 may compress an imageincluding a plurality of frames to some frames and landmark locationinformation of remaining frames of the image. Also, the first and seconduser terminals 100 and 200 may decompress an image including a pluralityof frames, based on some frames and landmark location information ofremaining frames of the image. Also, while decompressing an image, thefirst and second user terminals 100 and 200 may decompress the image bycombining two images with reference to a template frame.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a configuration of the first user terminal100 according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, the first user terminal 100 according to thecurrent embodiment may include a display 110, a controller 120, acommunication unit 130, an image obtainer 140, and/or a memory 150. Sucha configuration is only an example, and the first user terminal 100 maynot include some of the above components, or may include anothercomponent in addition to the above components.

The display 110 according to an embodiment may be a display devicedisplaying a figure, a character, or a combination thereof, according toan electric signal generated by the controller 120 described below. Forexample, the display 110 may include one of a cathode ray tube (CRT), aliquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), and anorganic light-emitting diode (OLED), but is not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, the display 110 may further include an input unit forreceiving a user input. For example, the display 110 may further includea digitizer that reads touch coordinates of a user and converts thetouch coordinates to an electric signal, so as to obtain a user inputaccording to a screen displayed thereon. Accordingly, the display 110may be a touch screen including a touch panel.

Here, the input unit may be provided separately from the display 110.For example, the input unit may be any one of a keyboard, a mouse, atrack ball, a microphone, and a button provided separately from thedisplay 110.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may include any type ofapparatus capable of processing data, such as a processor. Here, the‘processor’ may be a data processing apparatus embedded in hardware andhaving a physically structured circuit to perform a function expressedin a code or command included in a program. Examples of such a dataprocessing apparatus may include a microprocessor, a central processingunit (CPU), a processor core, a multiprocessor, an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA),but are not limited thereto.

The communication unit 130 according to an embodiment may be anapparatus including hardware and software required for the first userterminal 100 to transmit or receive a signal, such as a control signalor a data signal, to or from another network apparatus, such as thesecond user terminal 200 or the server 300, in a wired/wirelessconnection manner.

The image obtainer 140 according to an embodiment is a unit forcapturing an image of a surrounding environment, and may include a lensand an image sensor. Here, the lens may be a lens group including atleast one lens. The image sensor may change an image input through thelens to an electric signal. For example, the image sensor may be asemiconductor device capable of changing an optical signal to anelectric signal (e.g., an image and/or a frame), such as acharge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor(CMOS).

The memory 150 according to an embodiment temporarily or permanentlystores data, instructions, programs, program codes, or combinationsthereof, which are processed by the first user terminal 100. The memory150 may include a magnetic storage medium or a flash storage medium, butis not limited thereto.

Since the descriptions of the first user terminal 100 may be identicallyapplied to the second user terminal 200, descriptions of the second userterminal 200 will not be provided again. In other words, the first andsecond user terminals 100 and 200 are apparatuses having the same orsimilar configurations, and are denoted differently simply based ontheir functions in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, an image compression method by which the first and seconduser terminals 100 and 200 compress an image will be described first,and then an image decompression method by which the first and seconduser terminals 100 and 200 decompress a compressed image will bedescribed.

An image compression method of compressing an image obtained by thefirst and second user terminals 100 and 200, according to an embodimentwill now be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 9.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may compress an imageincluding a plurality of frames to some frames and landmark locationinformation of remaining frames of the image, as described above.

In this regard, the controller 120 according to an embodiment may obtainat least one of first frame 91 and at least one second frame 92, inoperation S31. For example, when the image 910 to be compressed is animage obtained in real-time by the image obtainer 140, the controller120 may sequentially and/or repeatedly obtain the first frame 91 and thesecond frame 92 from the image obtainer 140. Here, the controller 120may obtain any one of the first frame 91 and the second frame 92, basedon whether an event has occurred, as will be described in detail withreference to operation S33.

Meanwhile, when the image to be compressed is an image stored in thememory 150, the controller 120 may simultaneously or sequentially obtainthe first frame 91 and the second frame 92. At this time as well, thecontroller 120 may repeatedly obtain the first frame 91 and the secondframe 92 from the memory 150.

For example, the image compression method may be applied to a videocall. In this case, the controller 120 may obtain an image including aplurality of frames from the image obtainer 140, in real-time. At thistime, the first frame of the image obtained from the image obtainer 140may be the first frame 91, and frames obtained after the first frame 91may be the second frames 92. The first frame 91 may include a firstimage (for example, a face image) of a user after the video call begins,and the second frames 92 may include images (for example, face images)of the user changing according to time.

Then, in operation S32, the controller 120 according to an embodimentmay set at least one landmark of the first frame 91 obtained inoperation S31. Here, ‘setting a landmark’ in a frame may mean that anobject that is a landmark target in the frame is searched for andrecognized. For example, when the first frame 91 is a human face,setting at least one landmark of the first frame 91 may indicatesearching for and recognizing each part of the human face in the firstframe 91, as shown in an image 920 of FIG. 9. In detail, in thesearching for and recognizing of each part of the human face in thefirst frame, the controller 120 may retrieve contours of a face,contours of a head, contours of eyes, contours of a nose, contours oflips, contours of ears, and contours of a spot or a mole, or otherfacial feature.

Here, the controller 120 may recognize contours of each landmark as a‘surface’ instead of a ‘line’. For example, the controller 120 maysearch for a region of the face, a region of the head, regions of theeyes, a region of the noise, regions of the lips, regions of the ears,and a region of the spot or mole, or other facial feature.

Then, the controller 120 may match each landmark to at least one pointand/or pixel. For example, when the landmark is the contours of the face(or the region of the face), the controller 120 may match a line of theface to several points arranged along the line of the face. Similarly,the controller 120 may match the contours of the eyes to several pointsarranged along the contours of the eyes.

Meanwhile, rules about which part of a frame is to be set as a landmark,e.g., the landmark setting rules, may be pre-set. For example, asdescribed above, when each frame includes a human face, the landmarksetting rules may be pre-set such that landmarks are set with respectto, for example, 66 points on the human face. However, an embodiment isnot limited thereto, and the landmark setting rules may be variously setbased on purposes and/or environments of using the image compressing anddecompressing system of the present disclosure.

The at least one landmark set by the controller 120 in the first frame91 may be a target for identifying a location in the second frame 92.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may identify a location ofthe at least one landmark in the at least one second frame 92, inoperation S33. Here, the at least one landmark may be set in operationS32. In other words, the controller 120 may identify locations oflandmarks set in the first frame 91, in the second frame 92.

For example, the controller 120 according to an embodiment may identifythe location of each landmark in the at least one second frame 92, inoperation S331, as shown in an image 930 of FIG. 9.

For example, as described above, the landmark setting rules may besetting 66 points on a human face, and one of the 66 points may be a‘starting part of a left eyebrow’.

In this case, the controller 120 may search for and identify a locationof the ‘starting part of the left eyebrow’ in the second frame 92. Inother words, the controller 120 may generate landmark locationinformation of the ‘starting part of the left eyebrow’ in the secondframe 92. The landmark location information of the second frame 92generated at this time may include, for example, coordinates of the‘starting point of the left eyebrow’ in the second frame 92.

Meanwhile, in operation S332, the controller 120 may determine whetheran event has occurred, based on a certain time period and the landmarklocation information of the at least one second frame 92 identified inoperation S331.

For example, the controller 120 may determine that an event has occurredwhen a difference between landmark location information of the adjacentsecond frame 92 is equal to or higher than a certain difference. Here,the difference may be due to disappearance of a landmark setting targetobject, an increase in the number of landmark setting target objects, orcovering of a landmark setting target object.

Also, the controller 120 may determine that an event has occurred whenthe certain time period is passed from a point of time when the firstframe 91 is obtained. For example, the controller 120 may determine thatan event has occurred when 10 seconds have passed from the point of timewhen the first frame 91 is obtained.

Also, the controller 120 may determine that an event has occurred when atransmission request of the first frame 91 is received from an externalapparatus.

When it is determined that an event has occurred, the controller 120 mayobtain an updated first frame 91, according to operation S31. On theother hand, when it is determined that an event has not occurred, thecontroller 120 may perform operation S34.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may process the firstframe 91 obtained in operation S31, and then sequentially process alocation 93 of the at least one landmark in the at least one secondframe 92 identified in operation S33, in operation S34.

Here, ‘processing’ of a frame and/or a location of a landmark may meanthat the frame and/or the location of the landmark is transmitted toanother user terminal through the communication unit 130, or stored inthe memory 150.

Accordingly, the controller 120 may transmit the first frame 91 toanother apparatus or store the first frame 91 in the memory 150, andthen may transmit the location 93 of the landmark in the second frame 92to the other apparatus or store the location 93 in the memory 150. Here,the controller 120 according to an embodiment may obtain an inputrelated to selecting of a template frame to be applied to decompress thefirst frame 91 and the location 93 of the landmark in second frame 92.Details about the template frame will be described later whiledescribing an image decompression method.

Meanwhile, when it is determined that an event has not occurred inoperation S332, the controller 120 may perform operation S31 afterperforming operation S34. In other words, the controller 120 mayrepeatedly perform operations S31 through S34 on the at least one secondframe 92 until the first frame 91 is updated according to an occurrenceof an event.

As such, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure,an image may be transmitted or stored by using reduced or minimizedresources and/or reduced or minimized storage spaces, and in addition, atemplate frame may be applied to the image according to a user'sselection.

Hereinafter, an image decompression method of decompressing an imageobtained by the first and second user terminals 100 and 200, accordingto an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 through 8and 10 through 13.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may decompress an image,based on some frames, e.g., a first frame 101, and landmark locationinformation 103 of remaining frames, e.g., second frames 102 of an image1010 including a plurality of frames. Also, an image may be decompressedby combining two images with reference to a template frame 1110.Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is described that theimage 1010 including the plurality of frames is compressed to an image1020 including the first frame 101 and the landmark location information103 of the second frames 102.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may obtain the first frame101 of the image 1020 to be decompressed, in operation S51. For example,when an image to be decompressed is an image obtained by thecommunication unit 130 from another apparatus in real-time, thecontroller 120 may sequentially and/or repeatedly obtain, from thecommunication unit 130, the first frame 101 and the landmark locationinformation 103 of the second frames 102. On the other hand, when animage to be decompressed is an image stored in the memory 150, thecontroller 120 may obtain the first frame 101 from the memory 150.However, an embodiment is not limited thereto.

Then, the controller 120 according to an embodiment may set at least onelandmark of the first frame 101 obtained in operation S51, in operationS52. Since the setting of the at least one landmark in the first frame101 has been described above with reference to operation S32, detailsthereof will not be provided again.

Meanwhile, a method of setting a landmark of the first frame 101 whilecompressing an image and a method of setting a landmark of the firstframe 101 while decompressing an image may be pre-arranged or sharedmethods.

Accordingly, a method of setting a landmark of the first frame 101 maybe pre-stored in the memory 150 in a form of source code and/or aprogram, or may be received from another apparatus through thecommunication unit 130.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may obtain the landmarklocation information 103 of the second frame 102 of the image 1010 to bedecompressed, in operation S53. In other words, the controller 120 mayobtain a location of the landmark set in the first frame 101, in thesecond frame 102. For example, when an image to be decompressed is animage obtained by the communication unit 130 from another apparatus inreal-time, the controller 120 may sequentially and/or repeatedly obtain,from the communication unit 130, the landmark location information 103of the second frame 102 together with the first frame 101. In otherwords, the controller 120 may obtain only the first frame 101 in a formof an image, and obtain the second frames 102, e.g., the remainingframes, in a form of location information. In other words, only thefirst frame 101 is obtained in a form of an image, having largecapacity, and the remaining frames, e.g., the second frames 102, may beobtained in a form of number and/or character data, having smallcapacity.

Meanwhile, when an image to be decompressed is an image stored in thememory 150, the controller 120 may obtain the landmark locationinformation 103 of the second frame 102 from the memory 150. At thistime as well, only the first frame 101 may be stored in a form of animage, and the remaining frames, e.g., the second frames 102, may bestored in a form of number and/or character data. However, an embodimentis not limited thereto.

Here, the landmark location information 103 of the second frame 102 mayinclude, for example, as location information of the landmark set in thefirst frame 101, in the second frame 102, coordinates of the landmark inthe second frame 102.

Meanwhile, the controller 120 may obtain the landmark locationinformation 103 of the second frame 102 in operation S531, and determinewhether an event has occurred in operation S532, based on the landmarklocation information 103.

For example, the controller 120 may determine that an event has occurredwhen a frame following the second frame 102 is the first frame 101.Here, the controller 120 may determine that the following frame is thefirst frame 101 when the first frame 101 itself is received from anexternal apparatus or a signal notifying transmission of the first frameis received.

Also, the controller 120 may determine that an event has occurred when acertain time period has passed after a point of time when the firstframe 101 is obtained.

When it is determined that an event has occurred, the controller 120 mayobtain the updated first frame 101 according to operation S51. On theother hand, when it is determined that an event has not occurred, thecontroller 120 may perform operation S54.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may generate the secondframe 102 from the first frame 101 in operation S54, based on thelandmark location information 103 of the second frame 102 obtained inoperation S53.

For example, as described above, the landmark location information 103may include the coordinates of the at least one landmark in the secondframe 102. Accordingly, the controller 120 may generate the second frame102 by changing the location of the at least one landmark of the firstframe 101, based on the landmark location information 103 of the secondframe 102, e.g., the coordinates. The first frame of an imagedecompressed as such may be the first frame 101, and the second frame ofthe image may be a frame in which only locations of landmarks arechanged in the first frame 101, e.g., the first frame. In the case of avideo call, a frame displayed first during the video call is the firstframe 101 itself, and a frame displayed after the first frame 101 may bea frame in which only locations of landmarks are changed in the firstframe 101. In other words, frames displayed during the video call may bethe first frame 101 modified according to the landmark locationinformation 103.

Here, the controller 120 may use various techniques to generate the morenatural second frame 102. For example, the controller 120 may generatethe second frame 102 from the first frame 101 by using a pixel liquifytechnique. Also, the controller 120 may generate the second frame 102from the first frame 101 by using a machine learning technique. However,an embodiment is not limited thereto.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may consecutively display,on the display 110, the first frame 101 and the second frame 102generated in operation S54. For example, a human face in the image 1010may move to the right, as indicated by a reference numeral 1030 of FIG.10. In this case, the controller 120 may consecutively display the firstframe 101 and the second frame 102 on the display 110. Here, the secondframe 102 may have been generated based on the landmark locationinformation 103 of the second frame 102 on which movement information ofthe human face is reflected.

Also, when the image compression and decompression methods are used fora video call, the controller 120 may display an image in which abackground is not changed but only a landmark, e.g., a human face, ischanged, by consecutively displaying the first frame 101 and the secondframe 102 generated in operation S54. Here, the changing of the humanface may indicate that the entire face is moved leftward, rightward,upward, or downward. Alternatively, the changing of the human face mayindicate that only a part of the face is changed, for example, the mouthis opened, frowning of the eyebrows occurs, yawning occurs, the nostrilsare flared, the eyes are blinked, or the eyes are covered.

Meanwhile, when it is determined that an event has not occurred inoperation S532, the controller 120 may perform operation S53 afterperforming operation S54. In other words, the controller 120 mayrepeatedly perform operations S53 and S54 on the at least one secondframe 102 until the first frame 101 is updated according to anoccurrence of an event. By repeating operations S53 and S54, frames of amoving image may be generated and/or repeated constantly.

With respect to generating of the second frame 102, the controller 120according to an embodiment may add various effects to the second frame102 based on the landmark location information 103. For example, thecontroller 120 may apply a local effect on a certain landmark or aneffect on an entire frame when the certain landmark is moved by acertain threshold value, by referring to the landmark locationinformation 103 of the second frame 102.

For example, when the second frame 102 includes a human face, thecontroller 120 may detect a change, such as blinked eyes, closed eyes,widely opened eyes, a surprised face, or an opened mouth, by referringto the landmark location information 103 of the second frame 102. Thecontroller 120 may add an effect of popped-out eyeballs as shown inimage 1210 of FIG. 12 or an effect of a new object sticking out from themouth as shown in image 1220 of FIG. 12, in response to the detectedchange. However, such an effect is only an example and is not limitedthereto.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may add various effects tothe second frame 102 by referring to various information, with respectto generating of the second frame 102. For example, the controller 120may add, to the second frame 102, an object and/or an effectcorresponding to location information of the first or second userterminals 100 or 200, identification (ID) information of the first orsecond user terminals 100 or 200, state information of the first orsecond user terminals 100 or 200, or user information, by referring toone of such information.

For example, the controller 120 may add, to the second frame 102, anobject symbolizing a landmark of a location of the first or second userterminals 100 or 200 by referring to the location information of thefirst or second user terminals 100 or 200, for example, the Eiffel Towerwhen the location of the first or second user terminals 100 or 200 isParis, as shown in image 1230 of FIG. 12.

Also, the controller 120 may add a cracking effect to the second frame102 when a battery power level is low by referring to battery stateinformation of the first or second user terminals 100 or 200, as shownin image 1240 of FIG. 12.

Also, the controller 120 may add an object symbolizing an anniversary tothe second frame 102 when a certain day corresponds to a specialanniversary, such as birthday, by referring to user information, forexample, a birthday cake image as shown in image 1250 of FIG. 12.

As such, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure,an image transmitted or stored by using reduced or minimized resourcesand/or reduced or minimized storage space may be more naturallydecompressed and displayed, and in addition, various special effects maybe easily and conveniently applied to the image.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for describing processes of decompressing an imageby combining two images by referring to the template frame 1110 whilethe controller 120 decompresses the image, according to an embodiment.Hereinafter, details overlapping those of FIGS. 5 and 6 will not beprovided again.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may set a landmark of thetemplate frame 1110 before obtaining the first frame 101, in operationS70. Here, the template frame 1110 may denote a frame including an imageto be combined with an image 1120 to be decompressed, and there may be aplurality of the template frames 1110.

For example, as in the above example, when the image 1120 to bedecompressed includes a human face, the template frame 1110 may include‘the face of Mona Lisa’, ‘the face of a plaster cast’, or ‘the face of afamous person’.

Also, when the image compression and decompression methods are used fora video call, the template frame 1110 may include a face of a calleeand/or caller of the video call. When the face of the callee and/orcaller is pre-stored in the first or second user terminals 100 or 200 asa template frame, the video call may be performed via only transmissionand reception of landmark location information of a second frame withouttransmission and reception of a first frame. In other words, a videocall may be performed without transmission and reception of an image (ora frame) by changing locations of landmarks in a pre-stored templateframe based on received landmark location information of a second frame.

Such a template frame 1110 may be determined via the user's selectionwhile an image is decompressed or while an image is compressed.

For example, when the image compression and decompression methods areused in a video call, in view of a caller terminal, the template frame1110 may be determined by a callee to determine his/her face displayedon the caller terminal, or determined by a caller to determine the faceof the callee the caller wants to see.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may pre-set a landmark ofthe template frame 1110 so as to combine the template frame 1110 and theimage 1120 to be decompressed. Since the setting of the landmark hasbeen described above with reference to operation S32, details thereofwill not be provided again.

Meanwhile, the setting of the landmark may be performed based on a userinput. For example, when the controller 120 is unable to automaticallyrecognize a landmark in the template frame 1110 due to low resolutionand/or low quality of the template frame 1110, the controller 120 mayset the landmark of the template frame 1110 based on a user input. Here,the controller 120 may display a landmark setting guide through thedisplay 110.

Then, the controller 120 according to an embodiment may obtain the firstframe 101 of an image to be decompressed, in operation S71. Also, thecontroller 120 according to an embodiment may set at least one landmarkof the first frame 101 obtained in operation S71, in operation S72.Here, the controller 120 according to an embodiment may obtain thelandmark location information 103 of a second frame 102 of the image tobe decompressed, in operation S73.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may generate a secondframe 1130 from the template frame 1110 in operation S74, based on atleast one of the first frame 101 and the landmark location information103 of the second frame 102.

As described above, the landmark location information 103 may includecoordinates of at least one landmark in the second frame 102, and thusthe controller 120 may generate the second frame by changing a locationof at least one landmark of the template frame 1110, based on thelandmark location information 103 of the second frame 102, e.g., thecoordinates. In other words, the controller 120 may generate the secondframe by replacing an entire image by a shape included in the templateframe 1110.

For example, when the image 1120 to be decompressed includes a humanface and the template frame 1110 includes ‘the face of a plaster cast’,the controller 120 may generate the second frame including the face ofthe plaster cast, in which facial expressions and movements are allreflected to the face of the plaster cast.

Alternatively, the controller 120 may generate the second frame 1130 bychanging the location of the at least one landmark of the template frame1110, based on the landmark location information of the second frame102, e.g., the coordinates, while replacing at least a portion of thetemplate frame 1110 by at least a portion of the first frame 101.

For example, when the image 1120 to be decompressed includes a humanface and the template frame 1110 includes ‘the face of a plaster cast’,the controller 120 may generate the second frame 1130, in which only aface part of an image of the plaster cast is replaced by the human face.Here, the landmark location information 103 of the second frame 102 maybe reflected on a portion of the second frame 1130, which is replaced bythe human face. Here, various technologies may be used for naturalcombining of two frames, e.g., the second frame 102 and the templateframe 1110.

First, the controller 120 may recognize an object that is a landmarksetting target from each of the template frame 1110 and the first frame101. For example, when a landmark is set on a human face, the controller120 may recognize the human face from each of the template frame 1110and the first frame 101.

Also, the controller 120 may select at least one part of the object thatis a landmark setting target recognized from the first frame 101, andblur the at least one part. Also, the controller 120 may calculate adisplay location and angle of the object that is a landmark settingtarget in the template frame 1110, and merge the blurred at least onepart of the first frame 101 with the template frame 1110 based on thecalculated display location and angle.

Here, the controller 120 may merge the blurred at least one part of thefirst frame 101 with the template frame 1110 considering a colordifference or the like between the first frame 101 and the templateframe 1110.

Also, since ratios (for example, distances between landmarks) ofportions of the objects included in the template frame 1110 and thefirst frame 101 may be different from each other, the controller 120 mayconvert the landmark location information 103 of the second frame tolocation information of the template frame 1110.

The controller 120 may match the first frame 101 and the template frame1110 by using various techniques, such as pixel liquify, machinelearning, etc.

The controller 120 according to an embodiment may manipulate soundcorresponding to each frame to correspond to the template frame 1110,together with processing of an image.

For example, when the template frame 1110 includes a face of a famouscharacter or famous entertainer, and sound corresponding to each frameincludes voice, the controller 120 may change the voice to voice of thefamous character or famous entertainer included in the template frame1110. According to a selective embodiment, the controller 120 may mutethe sound.

Also, the controller 120 according to an embodiment may generate a newframe displayed on each frame, based on the sound corresponding to eachframe.

For example, when the sound corresponding to each frame includes voice,the controller 120 may generate a subtitle object corresponding to thevoice and add the subtitle object to the frame, as shown in image 1310of FIG. 13.

Also, when the sound corresponding to each frame includes a specifiablesound, such as a siren sound, certain notification sound, burp sound,flatulence sound, or bird sound, the controller 120 may generate andadd, to the frame, an object corresponding to the specifiable sound. Inother words, when the sound includes the siren sound, the controller 120may add a siren mark to a frame as shown in image 1320 of FIG. 13, orwhen the sound includes the burp sound, the controller 120 may add aburp mark to a frame as shown in image 1330 of FIG. 13.

As such, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure,an image transmitted or stored by using reduced or minimized resourcesand/or reduced or minimized storage spaces may still be naturallydecompressed and at the same time, more naturally composed, therebyarousing a user's interest.

Also, while decompressing an image, an image reflecting sound may begenerated by referring to a sound corresponding to the image.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram for describing processes performed when theimage compression and decompression methods according to an embodimentare used for a video call. Hereinafter, details overlapping those ofFIGS. 3 through 7 will not be provided again. Also, for convenience ofdescription, only an aspect of the second user terminal 200 receiving animage from the first user terminal 100 will be described.

The second user terminal 200 according to an embodiment may receive afirst frame from the first user terminal 100, in operation S81. Here,the first frame may be a frame included in an image obtained by an imageobtainer of the first user terminal 100. Also, the second user terminal200 may further receive, in addition to the first frame, a signalnotifying initiation of a video call, ID information of a first user, orthe like.

The second user terminal 200 may set at least one landmark of thereceived first frame, in operation S82. The second user terminal 200 mayobtain landmark location information of a second frame, in operation S83a. The second user terminal 200 may determine whether an event hasoccurred based on the obtained landmark location information of thesecond frame, in operation S84 a. The second user terminal 200 maygenerate the second frame from the first frame, based on the landmarklocation information of the second frame, in operation S85 a. Refer tooperations S52 through S54 of FIG. 5 for details about operations S82through S85 a.

The second user terminal 200 may repeatedly perform some of operationsS82 through S85 a until it is determined that an event has occurred.When it is determined that an event has occurred, the second userterminal 200 may request the first user terminal 100 for the first framein operation S86, and receive the updated first frame in operation S87.

According to an embodiment, the first user terminal 100 may detect anevent, and accordingly transmit the updated first frame to the seconduser terminal 200. In this case, the second user terminal 200 may detectreception of the updated first frame as an event, and perform anoperation corresponding to the event.

Upon receiving the updated first frame, the second user terminal 200 mayrepeat operations S82 through S85 a to receive and decompress acompressed image.

As such, according to one or more embodiments, a video call may beperformed continuously with a lower bandwidth, and a datatransmission/reception amount between the first and second userterminals 100 and 200 may be reduced during the video call. Accordingly,one or more embodiments may provide a video call capable of providingcontinuous and smooth images while maintaining a datatransmission/reception amount at a level similar to that of a voicecall.

According to one or more embodiments, a method of more efficientlycompressing and/or decompressing an image may be provided.

Also, a method of compressing an image including a plurality of framesto some frames and landmark location information of remaining frames ofthe image may be provided.

Also, a method of decompressing an image including a plurality offrames, based on some frames and landmark location information ofremaining frames of the image may be provided. At this time, a method ofdecompressing an image by combining two images with reference to atemplate frame may also be provided.

The foregoing description has been provided for purposes of illustrationand description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit thedisclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular exampleembodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but,where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selectedembodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same mayalso be modified in various ways. Such modifications are not to beregarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modificationsare intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image decompression method of decompressing animage comprising a first frame and at least one second frame followingthe first frame, based on the first frame and landmark locationinformation of the at least one second frame, the image decompressionmethod comprising: obtaining the first frame; setting at least onelandmark of the first frame; obtaining the landmark location informationof the at least one second frame; and generating the at least one secondframe from the first frame, based on the landmark location informationof the at least one second frame, wherein the landmark locationinformation of the at least one second frame is location information ofthe set at least one landmark of the first frame, in the at least onesecond frame, wherein the obtaining of the landmark location informationcomprises determining whether an event has occurred, based on thelandmark location information of the at least one second frame and acertain time period, wherein the determining comprises determining thatthe event has occurred when a frame following the at least one secondframe is a new first frame or when the certain time period has passedfrom a point of time when the first frame is obtained, and wherein theobtaining of the first frame comprises repeatedly obtaining the firstframe that is updated whenever an event occurs, the setting of the atleast one landmark comprises setting at least one landmark of theupdated first frame, and the generating of the at least one second framecomprises generating the at least one second frame from the updatedfirst frame.
 2. The image decompression method of claim 1, furthercomprising, before the obtaining of the first frame, setting at leastone landmark of at least one template frame, wherein the generating ofthe at least one second frame comprises generating the at least onesecond frame from the at least one template frame, based on at least oneof the first frame and the landmark location information of the at leastone second frame.
 3. The image decompression method of claim 2, whereinthe setting of the at least one landmark of the at least one templateframe comprises setting the at least one landmark of the at least onetemplate frame, based on a user input with respect to the at least onetemplate frame.
 4. The image decompression method of claim 2, whereinthe generating of the at least one second frame further comprisesgenerating the at least one second frame by replacing at least a partialregion of the at least one template frame by at least a partial regionof the first frame.
 5. The image decompression method of claim 1,wherein the generating of the at least one second frame comprisesgenerating the at least one second frame by changing a location of theat least one landmark of the first frame, based on the landmark locationinformation of the at least one second frame.
 6. The image decompressionmethod of claim 1, wherein the at least one landmark is set on at leastone feature point of a human face included in the first frame.
 7. Theimage decompression method of claim 6, wherein the image comprising thefirst frame and the at least one second frame is transmitted from acaller terminal to a callee terminal, the obtaining of the first framecomprises obtaining the first frame from the callee terminal, thesetting of the at least one landmark comprises setting the at least onelandmark on at least one feature point of an interlocutor's faceincluded in the first frame, the obtaining of the landmark locationinformation comprises obtaining the landmark location information of theat least one second frame from the callee terminal, and the generatingof the at least one second frame comprises generating the at least onesecond frame by changing a location of the at least one feature point ofthe interlocutor's face from the first frame, based on the landmarklocation information of the at least one second frame.
 8. An imagecompression method of compressing an image comprising a first frame andat least one second frame following the first frame, based on landmarklocation information, the image compression method comprising: obtainingat least one of the first frame and the at least one second frame;setting at least one landmark of the first frame; identifying a locationof the at least one landmark in the at least one second frame; andprocessing the first frame and processing a location of the at least onelandmark in the at least one second frame, sequentially, wherein theidentifying of the location comprises determining whether an event hasoccurred, based on landmark location information of the at least onesecond frame and a certain time period, wherein the determiningcomprises determining that the event has occurred when a differencebetween landmark locations of adjacent second frames is equal to orhigher than a certain difference, when the certain time period haspassed from a point of time when the first frame is obtained, or when atransmission request of the first frame is received from an externalapparatus, and the obtaining comprises repeatedly obtaining the firstframe that is updated whenever an event occurs, the setting of the atleast one landmark comprises setting the at least one landmark of theupdated first frame, the identifying of the location comprisesidentifying the location of the at least one landmark of the updatedfirst frame in the at least one second frame, and the processingcomprises processing the updated first frame, and processing thelocation of the at least one landmark in the at least one second framefollowing the updated first frame, sequentially.
 9. The imagecompression method of claim 8, wherein the processing comprisesobtaining a user input of selecting a template frame to which the firstframe and the location of the at least one landmark are to be applied.10. The image compression method of claim 8, wherein the imagecomprising the first frame and the at least one second frame istransmitted from a caller terminal to a callee terminal, the obtainingcomprises obtaining the first frame and the at least one second framefrom an image obtainer of the caller terminal, and the processingcomprises sequentially transmitting, to the callee terminal, a locationof the at least one landmark in the first frame and the location of theat least one landmark in the at least one second frame.
 11. The imagecompression method of claim 8, wherein the image comprising the firstframe and the at least one second frame is stored in a caller terminal,the obtaining comprises obtaining the first frame and the at least onesecond frame from an image obtainer of the caller terminal, and theprocessing comprises sequentially storing, in a storage unit of thecaller terminal, a location of the at least one landmark in the firstframe and the location of the at least one landmark in the at least onesecond frame.
 12. A non-transitory computer-readable recording mediumstoring a computer program for decompressing an image comprising a firstframe and at least one second frame following the first frame, based onthe first frame and landmark location information of the at least onesecond frame, the computer program when executed by a computerperforming the steps comprising: obtaining a first frame of an imagecomprising at least one frame; setting at least one landmark of thefirst frame; obtaining landmark location information of a second frameof the image; and generating the second frame from the first frame,based on the landmark location information of the second frame, whereinthe landmark location information of the second frame is locationinformation of the set at least one landmark of the first frame, in thesecond frame, wherein the obtaining of the landmark location informationcomprises determining whether an event has occurred, based on thelandmark location information of the at least one second frame and acertain time period, wherein the determining comprises determining thatthe event has occurred when a frame following the at least one secondframe is a new first frame or when the certain time period has passedfrom a point of time when the first frame is obtained, and wherein theobtaining of the first frame comprises repeatedly obtaining the firstframe that is updated whenever an event occurs, the setting of the atleast one landmark comprises setting at least one landmark of theupdated first frame, and the generating of the at least one second framecomprises generating the at least one second frame from the updatedfirst frame.